Opportunities in our lab

Prospective Graduate Students, Technicians, & Interns

I advise students through our Department of Earth and Environment’s graduate program. Our department offers an MS in Environmental Studies and a PhD program in Earth System Science with a major in Natural Resource Science and Management. The deadline to apply for Fall is February 1st. I really enjoy mentoring, and I am quite selective about the people joining our lab. I am interested in taking students who are passionate about ecology, have a nagging curiosity about nature, are hardworking and are serious about scientific inquiry and graduate school. Graduate school is not necessarily for everyone…. In order to succeed in graduate school you really need to want it! And of course, we want folks that join our group to love fish! If fish and water resonate with you (your research interest and your soul), then we want you! We are always looking for new additions to our team, whether it be a graduate student, technician, or intern! We routinely mentor undergraduate and high school students.  

If you are interested in working in my laboratory as a graduate student, please review the application guidelines from these graduate programs first, read some of our publications, and contact me before applying. Please email me a copy of your resume or CV, an unofficial copy of your undergraduate transcript, and a statement of your research interests, why you want to go to graduate school, and why you think our lab is a good match. If you have taken your GREs, please also include your scores. Prospective students should have some prior research experience and preferably with fieldwork.

If you would like to join our lab as an intern or technician, check out our current research, read some of our publications, and do not hesitate to contact me! Please attach your resume or CV. 

 About our lab: We are an energetic team of ecologists interested in understanding how fishes and recreational fisheries respond to human and natural disturbance, how these effects permeate through multiple ecological scales (from individual behavior to population and community dynamics and human dimensions), and on the impact of disturbance of spatial processes (e.g., fish movement/foraging and their interactions with seascape spatial structure). Our lab is led by Dr. Jenn Rehage, fish ecologist, and Dr. Rolando Santos, seascape ecologist. Our approach to tackling fish research focuses on both understanding process and pattern, and we thrive in conducting studies that blend these to inform management, conservation, and restoration efforts in partnership with stakeholders to coproduce science that is both fundamental and actionable. We are part of a highly collaborative south Florida research community, composed of scientists, and federal, state and private partners, all with the shared goal of understanding and forecasting coastal ecosystem responses to the interaction of hydrological, climatic and urban stressors  (see http://fcelter.fiu.edu/ and https://crestcache.fiu.edu/). 

 About our university: FIU is a R1 public research university (Doctoral universities – highest research activity) and member of the State University System of Florida located in Miami, with a highly diverse, vibrant, and growing student body. Our multiple campuses serve over 58,000 students, making FIU the fourth largest U.S. university, and largest majority-minority serving institution in the US.  The Institute of Environment (https://environment.fiu.edu/about/index.html) is a FIU preeminent program whose mission is to, in collaboration with local and international partners, provide data-driven solutions to society’s greatest and most urgent challenges.  

The Coastal  Fisheries lab is seeking a Ph.D. student interested in the study of the ecology of coastal fishes and recreational fisheries. 

Dates: Desired start date is Fall 2021, and the application deadline is February 1, 2021

About this position: We seek a motivated student with a passion for coastal ecology, fish/fisheries, and scientific inquiry. Research will focus on how fish and recreational fisheries respond to hydroclimatic variation, habitat reconfiguration and extreme disturbances, the implications of these responses for their sustainability and ecosystem function, and to pressing water resource and climate challenges. Studies will examine how South Florida coastal fisheries track hydroclimatic variation across coastal seascapes and thus respond to the tension of hydrological management/restoration and climate change through both movement and foraging ecology. The ideal candidate will have a passion and experience in fish and seascape/spatial ecology, and/or fisheries, excellent writing and quantitative skills (R/GIS), previous fish/fisheries field experience, and an interest in interdisciplinary collaborations and stakeholder  partnerships (e.g., with resource managers, recreational anglers and fishing guides). Boating and angling experience and previous research and publication experience are desired.   Competitive support will be a combination of research & teaching assistantships.     

To apply:  Please contact Dr. Jenn Rehage and Dr. Rolando Santos at rehagej@fiu.edu and rsantosc@fiu.edu. In your email, please tell us about yourself (research interests, experience, and fit to our lab) and attach a CV and other supporting documents as needed (including GPAs, GRE scores, academic record, research experience, publications/presentations & references). Please use ‘PhD applicant 2021 + your name’ as the subject line in your email. Our graduate program deadline is February 1, 2021 (please see  https://case.fiu.edu/earth-environment/phd-in-earth-systems-science/index.html  for details on our Ph.D. in Earth Systems Science).